Lookbook – The Look And Feel (This-A-Way)

November 19, 2009

Lookbook is kind of like a poor man’s Joy Division. Actually, scratch that, they’re more like a less polished version of Interpol. The ominous harmonies and ethereal vocals echoing over extended stretches of robotically rhythmic bass notes and disco guitar riffs. It’s all been done before, but with much greater success. It’s nothing against Lookbook themselves, but they’re just a few years late on a sound that was already a couple decades too late.

If Lookbook could have waited a little longer before making The Look and Feel, they might have been able to put together a few more interesting ideas. Their combination of gritty disco dance rock with new wave ambiance yields interesting results that Lookbook should definitely build on. They don’t necessarily sound like a band on the wrong track; it’s just that they haven’t arrived at any particular station yet.

Tracks like “White Lies” and “Polyamorous” take a valiant stab at glam rock, and might even succeed on a certain level. Sometimes a successful dark disco simply needs some cheap leather jackets, crusty eyeliner and useless synthesizers. Vocalist Errant Kohl even sings, “I know it all seems just a bit superficial / But there are elements of love / and a big big world of lust.” So maybe they’re aware of their own pretension. It’s possible that these guys all just have their tongues in their cheeks.

The Look and Feel is top heavy, losing steam by the halfway point of the album. This is because they give up baritone crooning for the sake of harsh sing/screams and pseudo-experimental indie rock. The bass distorts a little more, they chant “Cicada, cicada, cicada” for six minutes (the only lyric on track eight) and end the album with their worst song. By the time “Sacagawea” comes on as the album’s closer, Lookbook is rocking out as hard as a 1995 era Candlebox going krautrock. The Look and Feel might have worked better if they cut the album in half and just released the first five tracks as an EP, but as it is, the best moments of Lookbook are reminiscent of a sound already forgotten.